


The First Royal Garden of Fillory

by creativityandcoffee



Category: The Magicians (TV)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, True Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-13
Updated: 2019-05-13
Packaged: 2020-02-26 17:37:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18721789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/creativityandcoffee/pseuds/creativityandcoffee
Summary: In the lifetime they spent working on the Mosaic together, Quentin and Eliot had a garden. Now that the Monster has finally been defeated, they want to revive that garden—and their relationship.





	The First Royal Garden of Fillory

**Author's Note:**

  * For [accioAvowal](https://archiveofourown.org/users/accioAvowal/gifts).



> It's almost summer, the flower are blooming, and I needed to write some fluff after completing "Innermost Thoughts and Feelings." This is set in a slight AU where Quentin is still alive and Fen is still High King of Fillory. Hope you enjoy!

When Quentin and Eliot approach Fen with their idea for a royal garden, she's even more excited about it than they'd expected.

"This may be the best thing I've gotten to do as High King so far!" she says, beaming up at both of them. She stops herself and stands up straighter, adopting her now-familiar 'I'm a serious leader' demeanor.

"I hereby decree that you, Eliot Waugh, and you, Quentin Coldwater, will be in charge of the first Royal Garden of Fillory." 

The second she's done speaking, her grin returns. 

"I love this idea, but—where did you get it from? Why start a garden?" she asks, genuinely curious.

"Well... well, we..." Quentin starts trying to explain, but he soon trails off.

How can he explain fifty years in a few short sentences? How can he possibly begin to describe what the garden he'd grown with Eliot had meant to them? To his long-gone wife? To his son, the child he and Eliot had raised together? 

"Quentin and I both have a strong connection to gardening," Eliot says; this covers up Q's stumble and, in a simplified way, tells the truth.

"It'll also be a good distraction, after... well, after everything that's happened," Eliot adds, his voice growing quiet.

Quentin runs a comforting hand along Eliot's arm, and Fen's gaze softens. It's only been a month since the Monster was defeated; the pain of the ordeal is still fresh in everyone's minds. And none of them, not even Julia, really know what it was like for Eliot to be trapped for so long.

Fen grasps Eliot's hand with her own. Eliot looks appreciatively at her and Q, glad to have them by his side. 

"I can't wait to see how the garden turns out," Fen says. She squeezes Eliot's hand and then goes off, offering them a goodbye wave as she rounds the corner.

Quentin leans against Eliot's shoulder and smiles up at the other man. 

"We're officially royal gardeners now. I guess we've fallen a long way from being kings!" 

Eliot returns Quentin's smile and lets out a laugh. 

"I guess we have. But we both know Fen's a much better ruler than either of us." 

Quentin pulls away after a few moments have passed, his mind now set on the task at hand.

"Well," he says. "I guess we'd better start planning. High King's orders and all that." 

* * *

Planning the Royal Garden consists of Eliot and Quentin researching in the royal library, scanning the area for local plants, and sketching out how they'll use the immense plot of land Fen has allotted them. Quentin doesn't realize just what a big project this is until they've actually started; after a few days, he's already become stressed out. 

Eliot looks up from the sketch he's doing to see Q staring off into space. The way Q's fingers are twitching, the way his jaw is starting to clench—Eliot had learned to recognize these emblems of Q's frustration during the years they'd spent on the Mosaic. There had been many days when, just before Quentin had launched into a nervous tirade, he'd shown these same warning signs. 

"Hey," Eliot says softly. His voice draws Quentin back to the present, and Quentin looks at him with a questioning gaze.

"No one expects us to do this in a day, you know," Eliot continues. When he reaches out and places his hand over Q's, and he can physically feel the tension in the other man's hand. Slowly, he starts to run his fingers over the most tense spots, trying to help Q relax.

"There's no rush. We have all the time in the world." 

Quentin stares at Eliot's fingers working over in his hand. Wordlessly, he offers his other hand; Eliot takes it without hesitation. They sit there, with Eliot massaging the knots out of Quentin's palms and fingers, until all they can feel is peace. When Quentin lets out a deep, contented sigh, Eliot smiles, and continues to work out the last of the knots.

"If you get stressed again, we can always take a break, okay? You just need to let me know." 

After he's done, Eliot lifts both of Quentin's hands to his lips and kisses them, closing his eyes for a moment as he does. When he looks back up, he sees that Q is blushing furiously. 

Eliot can't think of a more beautiful sight.

* * *

After they have their basic idea set up, Quentin and Eliot decide to go around and ask everyone if they have any suggestions. 

Fen says she'd like some butterfly bushes, because she loves Fillory's butterflies so much. "Some of them are pretty aggressive, but if you're nice to them, they don't attack. Normally. Well... sometimes. But here, I'll show you which species are the most non-combative!" 

After fake-teasing them and then realizing they're serious about the garden, Margo has all sorts of suggestions. "Well, there's the red violets in the West... and the singing sunflowers are amazing, but you have to go up in the mountains for those... what? I was High King for a while, you know! You think I don't know my own ex-kingdom's flora and fauna by heart? What kind of ruler do you think I was?" 

Alice says she'd love to work on some sculptures to go in the garden. "I've never really tried my hand at large sculptures... I'll have to do some research, but I think I can find the right spells and amplifications for my magic. How do you feel about a horse theme?" 

Julia is thrilled to hear about the garden, and says she'd love to help tend to the plants and sow the seeds, once they're acquired. "Q knows that, between me and him, I've always had the greener thumb. He managed to kill the cactus I gave him in high school within a week. Honestly, it was kind of impressive, killing it that fast..." 

Penny initially acts like he's not that interested in the whole idea; but just before Eliot and Quentin are about to leave, he clears his throat. "You know... if you guys ever need me to grab a plant or something—just let me know. It's not like I have anything better to do." 

Having heard and processed their friends' suggestions, they are finally ready to begin.

* * *

Like all good things, the garden starts off small. 

As they're marking the different plots and digging furrows in the ground, Quentin is helplessly pulled back to his memories of his lifetime with Eliot—a lifetime which, according to the Mosaic, had shown the beauty of all life itself. 

They had started the garden at Theodore's request, back when Arielle was still alive. Quentin remembers his son, only three or four at the time, stumbling up to him and asking, earnestly, if they could "plant pretty flowers next to the house." At first, Quentin'd had no idea how to even begin; but, with Arielle's knowledge of Fillory's plants and Eliot's agricultural skills, they'd soon managed to start a small garden, filled with all of Theodore's favorite flowers.

Quentin smiles to himself as he recalls all those nights he'd spied Theodore, who was definitely supposed to be asleep by then, peering out of his window at the colorful garden below.

When Arielle had died, Quentin had wanted to give up on the garden; it had been too painful for him to even _look_ at the flowers, initially. But Theodore and Eliot had continued to work on the garden, refusing to let it fade. Over time, Quentin had grown ever more grateful for their persistence. 

The garden had been a way for them all to relieve stress, and to bond with each other. Quentin had watched Eliot and Theodore trade many words over that garden, while they were searching for weeds or pests that had snuck into the flower beds. Whenever Quentin had gotten overwhelmed with the Mosaic, he had gone over and sat in front of the flowers, marveling at how busy the garden had become. And once, on their twentieth anniversary, Eliot had made Quentin a living bouquet: he'd planted the most beautiful flowers he could find in their own, special plot. 

Both that garden and Quentin and Eliot's love had started from the smallest, simplest seed; but with care, patience, and a little sunlight, both had grown to become wondrous and majestical. 

Starting a new garden in Fillory had been Quentin's idea, initially. He'd brought it up to Eliot one night when they were alone, lounging on the couch and both pretending to watch whatever was on TV. 

At first, Quentin had worried that Eliot would say no. It had been a mere two weeks since they'd gotten Eliot back.. and a mere three days since Eliot had asked Quentin if he'd be willing to try out a relationship. Quentin, of course, had said yes. But with all of the horrible things they'd just gone through, and all of the pain they were still dealing with, neither of them really knew where to start, now that they were together.

They loved each other; that much was clear. But expressing that love was proving more difficult than expected.

To Quentin's delight, Eliot had perked up at the suggestion of starting a garden.

"Q... I love that idea. I love it a _lot_ ," Eliot had said. He'd breached the space between them on the couch by lying down, his head falling into Quentin's lap. Quentin had laughed and run his fingers through Eliot's hair, glad his idea had turned out to be a good one. 

They'd stayed that way for the rest of night, wrapped up in their own little world.

* * *

Their relationship isn't a _secret_ or anything, but Eliot and Quentin haven't officially announced they're dating. Anyone who hasn't already guessed the two are together, however, can tell they are after watching them work in the garden.

Quentin bickers with Eliot, and Eliot bickers back; they'll pour over maps and diagrams together, quietly arguing about which plants go where; they spend all day with each other, toting around books and flowers; and there's been quite a few incidents of them chasing each other around with spades, shovels, and every other variety of gardening tool.

None of these moments escape the notice of their friends, who have become invested in the garden's progress.

Fen gets them that list of (supposedly) non-violent butterflies, and she's there to witness the butterfly bushes planted.

Margo is very involved in the process, giving countless suggestions about which plants should go where, what flowers they're not thinking about, and which colors _absolutely do not_ go well together. Sometimes, there's a fight between Eliot and Margo over aesthetic choices; but somehow, Margo's opinion always seems to win out, in the end.

Alice finds a way to create her large sculptures. Eliot and Quentin stand starstruck at the first one she brings them. The statue—which depicts a horse rearing up on its hind legs—is so massive that it towers over them, and casts a broad shadow on the yard. Alice makes four more sculptures, each a horse in a different pose, and is proud to display her achievements in the rapidly-developing garden. 

Once the seeds and plants are all gathered, Julia helps tend to the young blooms. Quentin marvels, as he always does, at her way with living things; Eliot, too, soon comes to appreciate her skill. Even though she's not a goddess anymore, they both start calling her "Our Lady of the Tree" whenever she's there to help with the garden. 

Thanks to Penny, Quentin and Eliot are able to gather each and every one of the plants they want, including the ones from other worlds. The last flower on their list is the singing sunflower, which grows on one mountain-top at the very edge of charted territory. To their surprise, Penny brings two singing sunflowers, even though they had only requested one. 

"I tried to take just one, but the other one wasn't having it," Penny says, handing the sunflowers over. Quentin and Eliot marvel at the plants, which are quietly humming in perfect harmony. "Apparently these things live in pairs. If one of them leaves, then the other one follows." He looks right at the two men before him, wearing a purposefully blank expression.

"Pretty fitting for you lovebirds, I think." 

Penny chuckles to himself as he walks away, pleased by the shocked looks his words have earned.

"Everyone knows about you two, by the way!" Penny shouts, just before disappearing into the castle. 

Quentin and Eliot stare at each other for a moment before they both start laughing.

As if signaled by this laughter, the singing sunflowers start to live up to their name: they begin—quite beautifully—to sing. Quentin and Eliot fall silent as they listen to the flowers' song.

That melody... 

It's simple, and beautiful, and so _familiar_ , somehow... 

As they both realize where it's from, they gaze at each other with wide, wondering eyes.

It's the song that Eliot had written for Quentin, in that other lifetime, so long ago. The song had never gotten lyrics, but it had never needed them. There'd been so many nights when they'd lain outside, Quentin's head on Eliot's chest, as Eliot had sung this melody. It had always been theirs, something kept to themselves... the song of their love, for their ears alone.

As Eliot and Quentin plant the sunflowers, the singing stops; the melody, however, still lingers in their minds. 

They sit next to each other on the ground, side-by-side, and watch as the sun shines through the clouds. It pours comforting warmth over both of them, and bathes the whole garden in its gentle, golden light. 

It's in this sun-lit moment that Eliot leans towards Quentin, whispers "I love you," and kisses him, soft and slow.


End file.
